Monday Motivation

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Love Sara

JP Cooper Tour!

Well hello there Lovebugs!

If you remember earlier this year I posted a blog or two about the magnificent Mr JP Cooper? If not click here or simply watch this…

JP Cooper is a Manchester based singer/songwriter/ musician with the voice of a soulful angel. If you have never seen the man in action then here is your chance. This December Soul Features alongside Vocals & Verses and Grey Cotton will be hosting the Birmingham and London leg of JP (the magnificent) Cooper’s tour.

If you don’t live in Birmingham or London then not to worry because the amazing artist that is Mr Cooper also has tour dates in Nottingham, Manchester, Totnes and Bath!
For dates , tickets and to find out more click here or visit Mr Coopers Facebook.

 

Birmingham crew, I’ll see you on December 6^th at the HMV Institute.  

 

KINatural at the Bull's Head Friday Night!!!

If you're in Birmingham this Friday night, get yourself down to The Bulls Head in Moseley Village and support the amazing KINatural!!





The Duo will be preforming tracks from their amazing new EP P.A.I.N including their track current track 'Danger'.  





See you there my loves! 

Interview with JP Cooper

The first time I heard JP Cooper I was immediately blown away by his talent , but when I had the opportunity to meet him at the last Soul Live Birmingham I was in no way at all prepared for the pure level of humility of Mr Copper or his enthusiasm, love, understanding and passion for honest music. He is hands down the most intriguingly humblest man I think that I have ever met.

For a man with a rare yet powerful Soul, it’s hard to believe that his musical beginnings started in Rock bands which he said helped to mould his sound and voice that has taken him 10 years to find.

Emerging from a “very white working class” background in Manchester it was through Coopers exploration of Gospel music and being a fan of Soul that he was able to find this voice that I just can’t get enough of.

With Musical Influences like Donnie Hathaway, Bill Rivers and the legendary Stevie Wonder, Cooper is definitely a man who is serious about real music. So to find out why Mr Copper is officially my first music obsession of 2013 keep reading and I’m sure by the end of the interview you'll be obsessed too.

For those that aren’t familiar with your music, how would you describe your sound.

Wow, you know what I really don’t know. In what I do I try to be honest, try to keep things simple, I try to reveal as much as I can and I try and strip it down to the bones and as far as the sound goes… I don’t know, because it isn’t soul, it isn’t folk, it’s number of things.

What sets you apart from the other soul artist out there today?
It’s probably is because I came from such a different background, and I mean here tonight I feel blessed to have been invited into this kind of event, to be accepted. I mean its Soulive, so for someone to say I feel your soul when you sing, that’s what it’s all about.

So how would you explain your background?
I grew up in a very white working class area, so I was more exposed to indie music. I live in Manchester, so the whole Manchester thing was going on and everybody was in Indi Bands, that’s maybe why it took me so long to get into soul music because there weren’t many people sharing that. Luckily over the years I’ve found Gospel Choir, I’ve found other musicians and I’ve learnt a lot, whereas I used to hide behind my long hair and loud guitars.

Considering you started out in Rock, is this something that you still delve into or are you solely Soul Music?
I don’t know if I would go back into that, I probably wouldn’t because I’ve always wanted to do something acoustic, something soulful, I think it was just finding the confidence to bare that and it took me ten years to focus on what I had that was special and individual, so I feel like I’m just scratching the surface now.

 

Who or what inspires you lyrically?
I don’t really know if there’s been any people that have influenced me to write. Most of the things are just everyday emotions, things that I’ve been nostalgic about, things that have moved me in a good way, things that have moved me in a confused way. A lot of the time when I’m writing I’m figuring things out, so half the time I don’t know what the songs about when I’m writing it and then when I finish sometimes it’s a year later that it says something to me and that’s what’s beautiful about it. I do really try and keep it simple and I do want to be able to speak to everybody, I don’t just want to just be able to speak to intellectual people, I want to keep it simple because I’m a simple guy.

 

Keeping with the theme of inspiration and lyrics, ‘Oh the Water’ is one of my favourite songs. What inspired such a powerful song?
I think that when I wrote that song I was trying to speak to a part of myself that tells me that I can’t do something. I have massive doubt issues with myself, I’m kind of working them out. It’s about dealing with self-doubt and not sweeping it under the rug, it’s about facing it and dealing with it and helping a part of yourself that is being beat on. So that’s what that songs about, and it’s another one that spoke to me.

If there is anyone that you could work with dead or alive, who would it be?
There are people that I would love to meet, but I would love to meet and learn from. I’m a huge Donnie Hathaway fan and I got to support his daughter Lalah Hathaway.
Stevie wonder, what a man, what a legacy. It would be great to sit down with Bill Rivers just because he seems like such a great down to earth kind of guy and I don’t know how he’s managed to keep that, that’s a really big aspiration to have.

So there you have it ladies and gents, a little insight in to who this magnificent artist is and where he came from! I definitely recommend you keep a close eye on him and if JP is coming to a town near you, not going to see him live is not an option! But for the time being check out the video below of JP performing ‘Oh the Water’ Live at Soulive back in February, and if you look closely enough you’ll see a little shortie in the front row who looks like she’s in pure heaven … yep that little shortie is moi and if heaven feels anything like I felt during that moment then boy, I better be on my best behaviour!

 

To see more quality Artist’s like JP get yourself down to the Rainbow Warehouse, Digbeth Birmingham on May 11th for round 3 of Soulive! I for one canny wait!!

See you there music lovers. xx

*Images sourced from Google

I Luv Live Birmingham

This Wednesday if live music is your thing and you are looking for somewhere to celebrate the mid week, I Luv Live Birmingham at Oh Velvet Bar on Broad Street in Birmingham city centre is the place for you. 

Image sourced from Google

This month I Luv Live Birmingham is bringing forward an great line up of talent.
The night is set to be an entertaining one with the likes of London rapper Shystie, Bobii Lewis and Birminghams own Allysa Rochelle, Safone and more.

So if you're in Birmingham on Wednesday April 24th at from 7.30pm, get yourself and some mates down to Oh Velvet Bar for a night of live music.

Love Sara. xxx

Top Secret Live Music Adventures

On Friday night my friend and I braved the cold weather and headed out for the night on a little adventure. My friend had signed up to Sofar Sounds (Which I had never heard of) and discovered that an event was taking place that night in Birmingham. For those that aren’t familiar with Sofar Sounds, it’s this amazing, fun and exciting movement for real music lovers that takes place in living rooms all over the world. It’s like a top secret operation, you sign up to the mailing list and when a gig pops up that you want to go to you confirm your attendance and then the day before the event you are told the address, but not the names of the performers, as they remain top secret until minutes before their they perform on the night.

This was my first Sofar Sound experience and it was pretty cool, I had no idea what to expect but i thought it was really amazing how music brought so many people together. However as a lady who doesn’t stick to one style of anything I can see how if you are not an open minded person when it comes to music, culture or art this may not be your kind of thing, as you have absolutely no way of knowing who the acts are for the night or what the genre of music will be, so what you get just may not be suited to your musical taste. But if you are open minded, happy to go with the flow and love to hear new music from new or underground artists in very intimate and personal surroundings, I would definitely say to sign up to their mailing list and give it a go.

You’ll meet some really cool people who do some really amazing things, my friend ended up talking to a musician who had spent some of his years touring with TheRolling Stones and I ended up being completely wowed by the hosts of the night Cannon Street, two sisters with beautiful musical talent (who also performed) and their parents who were gracious enough to open their home to a bunch of random music lovers for the night.

I will be traveling later this year in the three different parts of the USA and there is one State in particular in which I am dying to experience some live music, and that is down in Mississippi down in New Orleans! So I will be keeping a close eye on Sofar Sounds gigs because I think this would be the ultimate place to attend a Sofar night. But if Sofar doesn’t happen to have anything in that neck of the woods come July, I’m more than happy to soak up the music it the infamous bars of New Orleans with great company, amazing food and life changing events that will become life long memories. And besides, there are plenty other cities all over the world waiting for music lovers to attend their Sofar Sound nights hosted by some of their most generous citizens.

Love Sara (A little lady who loves live music). xxx

 

 

An Interview with Mr. Banks

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting the man of the moment who is currently making us Brummies glow with pride, Mr Jacob Banks. I say I had the pleasure of meeting him but in actual fact I have met Mr Banks numerous times before, but on our previous encounters I knew him as Jacob the street dancer not as Jacob the musician with a whole lot of soul and then some.

It had been a few years since I had seen Jacob around so when my friend told me that he had moved to London and was pursuing a career in music whilst studying a degree in Engineering and had been taken under the wings of Wretch 32’s camp, I was left asking “is there anything that that this multi-talented young man cannot do?” He has written for the likes of One Direction, Alexandra Burke and Wretch 32, released a top quality EP ‘The Monologue’ and has even been featured on BBC 1Xtra’s Live Lounge and he has made it very clear that he is just getting started.

So when I found out that he was going to be performing at Soulive Birmingham I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to find out about the musical journey that took me and so many others by surprise, and how the cute boy who I remembered as a talented street dancer had morphed into a handsome and talented singer/songwriter/musician, as well as his take on the industry, growing up in Birmingham and what he has in store for 2013 and beyond.

For the Love of Moi: You are doing really well right now, how did this music journey begin for you?

Jacob Banks: I’ve always loved music and I think it’s just fate really, everything I did resulted back to music. I had no specific moment where I could say it started here; it just went on and on and then I just fell in love with it and I’ve never stopped.

FTLOM: You’ve come up in the industry really fast, for some it takes years. And you’ve worked with some of the UK favourite talent, which would say has been your best experience so far?

JB: Not too long ago actually I had a show, this was before everything started happening. So many people came out and they knew my songs, they knew my words and it was amazing to me. I’m so humbled by these little things, there was like 200 people and it was amazing. I’ve performed to thousands of people before, but to know that they came out just for me, it was wonderful, I couldn’t have asked for more.

FTLOM: When writing your own music where do you draw inspiration from?

JB: Naturally the first form of music was used to tell stories and to pass messages through villages, so I feel that music should still hold some of that essence. When I write my music and when I write for other artist as well, it’s always from a selfish place where things that I might not want to talk about to a person I put in in my music. I think I’m also inspired by the things I see, so generally life. I’m inspired by other artists and situations that I’ve been through and my friends have been through and just wanting to relay a message and I think that the best way to relay the message was through soul music.

FTLOM: Are there any artist that you are inspired by?

JB: Everyone from Fela Kuti to Al Green to Aretha Franklin to Shakka to anyone that makes music. I’m a fan of music first and I started singing because I loved it so much. I love everyone, it doesn’t matter what kind of genre music, as long as there is something there for me, I’ll take it.

FTLOM: There’s a lot of talk about the Music industry these days of how hard and pretentious it can be. What has your experience in the industry been like so far?

JB: I never say I’m in the industry, I know I am but, I don’t go to the industry stuff, I just make the music pass it on to my manager and he handles the rest. But what I’ve learnt about the industry is that it’s no different from anything else you do in your life. If you work in Tesco’s for example you have bad customers you have bad days, it’s the same thing, it’s just people get emotional about their music because their passion’s involved and it’s hard to separate your passion from the fact that it’s your job. So yeah, the industry’s hard but it’s just as hard as anything else you’ll ever do. I think if you have a good team around you and you respect your team members and you try to find a medium you’ll be fine.

FTLOM:The Video for your current single ‘Kids
on the Corner’ was shot in your hometown, Birmingham, you now Live in London and could’ve shot the video there, why was it important to shoot the video in Birmingham and to also make a statement out of it?

I grew up on Birmingham at a time where was a lot stabbings and a lot of crime, but what I realised the most is that when I saw people committing crimes, they didn’t see any guilt in what they did, they was cool, they didn’t see why it was wrong, like my boys from Birmingham would do dumb shit because of people would say they can’t do it. Like if I was with one of my boys and I said, I bet you can’t slap that guy, he’d go and do it just to prove to you that he can and he’d feel no guilt about it. But now Birmingham is a lot better man. A lot of people have grown up and some people haven’t. My younger brother’s 18 and he doesn’t have to see all of that going on, it’s all Snapbacks and Jordan’s, they’re living the good life. 
So yeah, I’m from Birmingham and I had to represent because you always back track to the first things you do and I wanted to do this for myself as well as Birmingham.

To the Future and beyond

FTLOM: What does 2013 have to look forward to from Mr Jacob Banks?

I want to remain happy for one because happiness is important. I want to keep putting out music. I have a lot of material that I’ve never put out because the time was never right, so now I feel that it’s time and hopefully by the end of this year I should have my album finished and ready to release.

FTLOM: 5 years time, What’s the plan?

JB: In five years’ time I would like to be at the forefront of Soul music. Right now when people think of Soul music and the UK they probably think about Plan B, or people like Yolanda Brown but when people think of Soul music I’d like to someone that pops in your head.
I don’t know where I’ll be in five years, I could turn around tomorrow and say that I want to start writing books, I’d do anything if it makes me happy and I do music because it makes me happy. I love performing, I love singing, I love writing, so as long as I’m happy, I’m cool, I’m alright.

To keep up with Jacob and his music you can follow that man with the timeless Soul on Twitter @MrJacobBanks, Facebook, Instagram @MrJacobBanks and Sound Cloud.

* All images sourced from Google

A Soulful Night to Remember

A few years ago I hung up my raving heels and opted for alternative ways to spend my late nights and early mornings. It’s not to say that I don’t like to have a great night out on the town every now and then, but just not every Saturday like I used to.

I have always loved live music, but ever since raving became a bore to me I’ve begun to enjoy it even more. So back in the summer of last year when my bestie told me that there was this amazing live music night that was coming to Birmingham called Soulive, naturally I was all over it.

Not really knowing what to expect we rocked up to the Rainbow Warehouse on a warm summers evening to experience what was I kid you not, one of the best nights we’ve ever had! The selection of artists was top quality and the crowd were there for one thing only, and that was for the love of real music.  So when I found out that Soulive Birmingham was ready for round 2, I accepted my Facebook invite before it was even sent out!

Due to such a huge success the first time, it seemed that word of mouth spread like wildfire because this time the event had been moved to the larger room at the same venue which they had no trouble filling at all.

The artists on the night were just as incredible as the artists from the previous event. The DJ of the night was Mike Bigz , who was more than on point mixing old school hip hop, Soul and R&B with the new school, keeping the vibe alive in between performances and at the end of the night for the dance floor skankers like moi.

First artist of the night was the Manchester cutie Daniel Walker who set the night off right with a few loves songs. This was the first time I had heard of Daniel and I was pretty impressed by his performance.

If you were a fan of Usher in his days of Confessions (specifically the loves songs) then I think you should give Mr Walker a listen. He definitely has talent and I think he’s just getting started so watch this space.

Next up was Lumi HD from Birmingham. I’m still baffled as to how I live in Birmingham and have never come across this gem star before?

Lumi’s performance had a great and infectious energy and she was having an absolute blast on stage with her band. Lumi  also had a great confidence about her that I always love to see in artists, she seemed to have a sense of spiritual and creative freedom which I find that not enough artists these days dare to have.

If you like artist like India Arie and Lauryn Hill who sing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then I’m pretty sure you'll love this lady. Check out some of her stuff on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Marie Dahlstrom the Scandinavian Soul singer kicked off the next performance with a cover of one of my artist to watch of the moment Miss Jhene Aiko’s ‘Higher’, which I can say definitely set Marie off to a great start with the crowd.

When Marie entered the stage she apologised as she and her too cool for school band missed sound check as they had to come from London, but after the fastest sound check I’d ever heard they still did an amazing job.

Marie has such a powerful voice but if I am to be honest I feel like she has so much more to give, she’s like a little Lioness waiting to roar and I think that when she eventually roars, my oh my she will roar big! But that’s no discredit to her performance at all as Dahlstrom and her band did a great performance and her sax player even had two lovely ladies behind me all weak in the knees which was quite amusing.

But if you like soul with a funk and jazz edge, I would  definitely recommend little Miss Marie Dahlstrom. You can check her out on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Next we had our very own Birmingham artist who is doing incredibly well right now, Mr Jacob Banks. If you like your soul timeless and deep noted then this is your dude.

Jacob gave his hometown a performance to be proud of with an Acoustic set with a mixture of his own songs and a nice little medley that had all the ladies on a ‘I’m in the mood for a real mans’ love’ kinda grove.

I managed to catch up with Mr Banks before his performance for a little chat about what’s he’s been up to, his success this far and what the world can expect from him for 2013 and thereafter, so watch this space.But in the meantime you can check out the man of the moment on his YouTube Channel Jacob Banks, or on SoundCloud. 

After a Jacob we had another B-Town artist, Monique Thomas. When this lady entered the stage with her full band and three backing singers, we knew this pretty lady meant business. Starting her set with a little sump’n sump’n up tempo and uplifting, Miss Thomas and her band definitely had the Rainbow Warehouse feeling that we had all paid money for an arena show because they really went in.

I have to say that my favourite part of Monique’s set was her spine tingling love song medley.
Now if there is one thing that you should know about me is that I love Bob Marley, so when she started off with the most beautiful rendition of Mr Marley’s ‘Is This Love’ that I have ever heard I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It honestly filled me with so much excitement, amazement, happiness and joy all at once that I literally didn’t even know what to do with myself. The harmonies that were coming from her backing vocalists were just too much to handle for a sucker for love like moi.

If you love a good love song and up lifting music then Monique is your gal. You can check her out here on YouTube and Sound Cloud.

The final artist performance of the night came from yet another lovely Northerner who judging by the round of applause he receive when entering the stage, was the artist the almost everyone had come out to see.

JP Cooper is a name that you definitely do not need to sleep on… AT ALL!

Before the event I did a little background research on some of the artist that were performing on the night, and I have to say that I as soon as I saw JP’s YouTube video for his song ‘Oh The Water’ I was floored, so you can only imagine how I felt when I was able to see him perform it live.

Cooper started his set with his song ‘Oh Brother’ and within seconds I had Goosebumps.

It has been a long time since I’ve been blown away by an artist to the point where there are actually no word to express how amazingly talented they are.  At one point after finishing a song the whole room cheered and then fell into a silence as though we were all too scared to breathe, move or blink in case we missed a beat! I don’t think any of us actually realised how silent we were until JP told us how moved he was by everyone’s silence. Now I have been to my fair share of concerts and gigs, but as far as I can remember I have never witnessed an artist silence a crowd the way that Mr Cooper Silenced us.

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing JP before his performance and I kid you not, he was the humblest man I have ever met who was just happy to be able to share his music with whoever cared to listen. So if you want to know more about the dude with the midas voice, who is also the biggest slice of humble pie you may come across this decade, watch this space, but in the meantime check out Mr Cooper on his YouTube channel.

So overall, I think it’s fair to say that Soulive have done it yet again. They seem to consistently dig deep to bring forward the finest selection of real, top quality underground soul artists, making their events nights to remember, and I for one cannot wait for round Three!

Till next time amigos.

A huge thanks for Andrea Thomas Mike Bigz and the rest of the Grey Cotton and Soulive team for bringing such an amazing event to Birmingham, it has been long overdue.

Love Sara (A Little lady in love with REAL music)

SOULIVE! Bringing Some Soul to Birmingham City

If you Love real live music the Friday 1^st February 2013 is a date that you need to put in your dairy!

 

Soulive is coming back to Birmingham City, UK for its second instalment of another huge night of quality live music from some of the UK’s most talented artists who are definitely bringing real music back and putting some Soul into it while they’re at it.

On the Night Birmingham’s own Jacob Banks will be performing, as well as, Monique Thomas, JP Cooper, Marie Dahlstorm and more!!

To find more click here to visit the Soulive Birmingham Facebook event page.

See you there Lovers